


Something Smart

by solitariusvirtus



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Canon Era, Language, Other, the Okay-plague
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-08-11 15:02:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7897231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/solitariusvirtus/pseuds/solitariusvirtus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How to make the world a better place. Failing that, bettering at least one's own works.</p><p>Or, how to nitpick and fuss over details that make a read spectacular</p>
            </blockquote>





	Something Smart

I know nitpicking is generally regarded as the epitome of ingratitude. Especially when it concerns something freely given, as pieces of fanwork are. Mind, I also think it’s one of the most amusing things to do if you’re bored and generally feeling like killing a few minutes doing short research.

Still, there are some things one can hard be faulted for picking up on. And that, for the medium at hand, is words. In the process of writing fictitious, wistful tales with our favourite characters reigning triumphant scenes, words play an essential role. They give meaning to our structure, if you will.

With that in mind, I firmly believe a standard of accuracy should be met, for the sake of consistency within the same universe. So, this brings me to one glaring, concentration-breaking slip which never fails to take the dedicated reader out of the realm of everything good and fanfic-y and into the cold, grim world of frustrating reality.

_Historical accuracy of terminology._

Typically when writing, the story is set at a fixed point in time. For ASoIaF that is for the most part the middle ages. Mind, try not to migrate to the dark ages, as most of the events draw on the middle ages proper. That established, it should be apparent that language is not the same today as it was back then. Therefore, if one wishes the maximise the level of immersion, it stands to reason period-accurate language would be used.

The problem?

Well, in one word: _OKAY_

No. No. NO. As Vader succinctly puts it: Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. Just no. Do not, and I repeat, do not use “okay”, “ok” or any other variants of this word in fics that follow the canon timeline. Please, for the love of everything that is holy, rein back the desire to type that easy filler word in.

The temptation is great. I do understand. Especially when one is not a native English speaker. I mean, basically, the dictionary doesn’t reveal that much of a difference between the terms “yes” and “okay” and sometimes variation is needed.

“Okay” and “yes” do, it is true, carry a like meaning, however, situationally, they are not as interchangeable as you’d think. And there is one reason for that, the greatest one, _history._

To put it plainly, “yes” has been known to be in use since before the 12th century, tracing its roots to Old English, the “grandfather”, if you will, of current spoken English. So Martin accurately uses the word “yes” when the answer in affirmative to a question within his story is warranted. “Okay” was first recorded in use in the 1830s. If you use “okay”, you are essentially using a bit of language that will not have been invented for another six centuries.

That in itself is not so much the bother, as the distracting result it leads to. Anyone remotely familiar with the language will see the use of “ok/okay” and will instantly be needled to the point where they’ll drop the story or be rather scathing in the comments section. Which everyone knows is unpleasant.

There is also the more peculiar and rarer in use “aye”. This affirmative answer to humanity’s queries is, well, half-accurate if we really want to put a fine point on it. Tracing its usage back to the 14th century, “aye” may be used with the “newer” meaning of “yes”, but if you want to be fully accurate, you would be using it with its original meaning of “always” (No, not that sort of Always!) or “forever”.

Intricate as the English language is, one can’t always tell when and how a certain word was used. That doesn’t mean we can’t look for the information. A very useful source is the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, as it provides not only explanations for words but also notes on origin and etymology, which is very useful to any writer.

The general linguistic milieu of Martin’s universe can be garnered from a handful of phrases if one really wants to stick to the source material in that sense, so I encourage reading a quote or two to familiarise oneself with the beast before proceeding to tackle what is surely to be a wonderful story, made all the better by that little wink to the language department.              


End file.
